According to some villagers, Zhangjiayu and Suanzaogou didn't stop production as they had previously claimed. Instead, they continued operations in the pit during the day and carried the mined coal to the ground at night in order to avoid being caught red-handed.

What they said was soon confirmed. At 3 AM on July 19, a fully-loaded hoist arrived at the Suanzaogou colliery pithead. Several loaders then got going, moving coal from the pithead at full speed to a truck waiting nearby. When the hoist appeared again, an exhausted miner stepped down out of it, obviously against safety operating regulations.

In May 2001, nine miners took a hoist to enter the pit at Suanzaogou. At a depth of 135 meters, the hoist suddenly careened out of control, and fell to the bottom of the shaft, which is nearly 200 meters deep. Five miners were killed immediately, and the other four died on the way to hospital. Following this accident the Suanzaogou colliery was closed down.

Day Five

Amazingly, a coal mine closed five years ago succeeded in surviving until today. In the past, Wu Ziqing had been conducting illegal evening mining at Suanzaogou, exposing the miners to even greater hidden dangers.

On July 20, reporters learned that two miners were killed at Suanzaogou that very day and the day before, but both deaths were then categorically denied by the colliery. Villagers said Wu and his staff lied to maintain secrecy about the accidents.

One victim was 49-year-old Zeng Wenguo from Taibai Village, Zhongjiang County of Sichuan Province. Wu Yuanjiang, Zeng's fellow worker, witnessed Zeng's death.

"At about 3 PM on July 19, seeing the ceiling of the tunnel shaking, I shouted out to Zeng to dodge, but it was already too late," Wu recalled. "A huge stone fell down and killed him on the spot."

"After the accident happened, the pit was in great confusion," Wu continued. "Everybody tried desperately to escape, but the only exit was blocked from outside. They were afraid we might tell the truth once getting out."

Huddling in the pitch-dark shaft and constantly fearing any new potential cave-ins, the miners were not set free until evening fell.

According to Zeng's relatives, his family got a compensation of 200,000 yuan (US$25,091) from the Suanzaogou colliery.

Backstage Boss

Interestingly, although all interviewees pointed out that Wu Ziqing was the real boss of Zhangjiayu and Suanzaogou, the names of Chen Zinian and Chen Ziyu were printed respectively on the two collieries' business licenses.

The mystery was unveiled in no time. Wu Ziqing has a total of four brothers, including the two Chens who were adopted by Wu's uncle when they were children and thus changing their family name. All of them have been involved in coal mining for years.

Wu Ziqing is concurrently director of the Economic Cooperation Council in the town of Liangdu and secretary of the Party branch in Xinzhuang Village.

"As an administrative official, he naturally doesn't want his reputation to be tarnished," some villagers said. "So it's more appropriate for him to pull strings from behind the scenes."

According to Lingshi County's work safety bureau, both the mining and work safety permits of Zhangjiayu colliery are already overdue; as for the illegal Suanzaogou colliery, it has never reported the two deaths that occurred on July 19 and 20.